


falling into place

by vatonages



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Polyamory, Slow Burn, oblivious jeno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 09:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17485574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vatonages/pseuds/vatonages
Summary: Jeno is too nice. So nice that he doesn't even mind when his friends start dating each other and blowing him off to hang out with each other. The problem comes when he realizes he just might have a crush on both of them.





	falling into place

**Author's Note:**

> can it even be slow burn if it's this short? lmao...i guess we'll find out. also this botched quote is REAL. i laughed forever.

"You're too nice," Chenle says to Jeno one day. "My father is a businessman, and he says being too nice can you  _ killed _ ." Chenle emphasizes the last word, and then laughs at Jeno's perplexed facial expression. 

 

But Jeno is just a normal person, and he has his fair share of mean thoughts. Sure, his definition of "mean" is probably a lot more mild than other people's, but the point still stands.

 

"I'm really not," Jeno defends. "I just don't wanna hurt anybody's feelings." Chenle jabs a pointy little finger into his chest.

 

"Too. Nice." He insists, and Jeno pouts.

  
  


And because he's too nice, when Jaemin and Renjun start dating, Jeno is happy for them. He's even okay with them skipping out on plans with him a lot more often because of it, opting for dates and quality time with each other instead. Really, it's fine, and Jeno understands. If he's a little lonely at his usual spot in the library now all by himself, well, that's nobody's business. He still gets his work done, and that's what matters. He doesn't even care when Renjun and Jaemin turn him down for the eleventh time to go bowling. He really doesn't, and he's absolutely not starting to feel like they don't want to be his friend anymore. That thought hasn't even crossed his  _ mind.  _

 

Except it has, and Jeno's getting just a little sad because of it, not that he's going to tell anyone. Die with your truest feelings shoved deep down inside, and only show people the good ones. Yeah, that's the Lee Jeno way. He said that to Mark once at like 4AM when he was sleeping over and got a very concerned look, but that doesn't mean it's not the Lee Jeno way anymore. He can't just change it, especially not on such short notice. 

  
  


And then all of a sudden, it's like Renjun and Jaemin can't see him  _ enough. _ They blow up his phone when he's in class which is awful, because Jeno very obediently follows the no phones in class rule and every time his phone goes off because he forgot to silence it he can feel a little part of himself dying. If he got yelled at for using his phone in class he thinks he would just scream.

 

They go ice skating, which is funny because Jaemin used to skate all the time and was on a speed skating team, and Jeno, by association, has been on the ice a few times, but Renjun slips and falls the entire like a newborn baby deer trying out its legs for the first time, grabbing onto whoever is closer at the time in a desperate attempt to not break his face and ass.

 

It's sort of weird because it feels like old times and simultaneously like they brought Jeno along as a third wheel on their date, except Jeno doesn't  _ feel _ like a third wheel. He feels very included, it's just funny to him that he's there at all. But he's having a good time so he guesses it doesn't exactly matter. Mostly he's just glad his friends don't hate him and want nothing to do with him anymore. Maybe, just  _ maybe _ , he was overreacting in that regard.

 

There's also the part where Jeno complains that he's cold, and he's really just complaining, not expecting anything to come of it, but Jaemin strips off his denim jacket, thick and warm from his body heat, and puts it around Jeno's shoulders. It smells like his cologne, and for some reason that makes Jeno blush.

 

"I'm used to the rink," he says, by way of explanation, but Jeno still feels kind of strange with it on. It's a nice kind of strange, but Jeno thinks it probably shouldn't be. If Renjun notices that Jeno has Jaemin's jacket on when they leave to get milkshakes, he doesn't say anything. Jeno wonders if Renjun's even supposed to say anything, if he's just reading too much into it.

 

They take him basically everywhere with him. It's almost weirding Jeno out. It feels like it's more than they even hung out together before they started dating, and they're at the arcade (Jaemin is absolutely  _ demolishing _ Dance Dance Revolution) when Jeno turns to them and goes "Uh, guys? Is there a reason we hardly hung out for a while and now we are together 24/7?" Jaemin spares him a glance for 1/16 of a second before turning his attention back to DDR. The song is Butterfly. Jeno loves this one.

 

"Can't some friends all just hang out together? And by the way, we're sorry we were so busy. Is watching me fucking  _ kill _ this song making up for it?" Honestly? It kind of is, but Jaemin doesn't need any more fuel for his ego, so Jeno doesn't answer that part. Renjun must sense this, because he laughs.

 

"Why?" Renjun asks. He puts an arm around Jeno's shoulders. Is this allowed? Jeno wants to ask, but Jaemin's attention is firmly on the screen (as it should be because one doesn't become a "DDR Master" by being easily distracted) and maybe Jeno is the one that's being weird anyway. "You don't like hanging out with us?"

 

"It's not that!" Jeno hurriedly defends. Renjun laughs, because he knows that. He just likes getting a rise out of him. It's kind of nice having Renjun's arm around him, hearing his laugh so close. Nobody needs to ever find that out. It's Jeno's secret. "I just wondered if there was a particular reason. But I'm happy. I missed you guys."

 

"Aw," Jaemin says. "You hear that, Renjun? He missed us. Isn't he sweet?" He finishes the song and the score pops up. He gets a perfect score, as expected. He throws his hands up and cheers.

 

"Yeah," Jeno hears Renjun say quietly, removing his arm. "He is."

 

They're blowing up his phone again. Or, Renjun is. Jeno glances around the room like a man with $1,000 worth of drug paraphernalia in his backpack and pulls out his phone. If he types  _ really _ fast, maybe no one will know he's using it.

 

Renjun

Are you busy later? Jaemin and I wanna see that new thriller. Well, Jaemin wants to see it, and I'm a supportive boyfriend. Are you in?

 

Jeno

Are you sure? I don't want to intrude. Movies are kind of a couple thing, aren't they?

 

Renjun

We'll make sure you're not three wheeling. You can sit in the middle! But we have to know if you're coming now, because Jaemin is ordering the tickets.

 

Jeno

How much are they? And I think I'm free. Are you sure you want me in the middle? I really don't mind

 

Renjun

You're sitting in the middle, and don't worry about it. Jaemin is paying. 

 

Well, okay. That's settled. Renjun used his don't-you-argue-with-me tone, and that makes it final. It was through text, but Jeno can just tell. He hopes it's not weird to sit in the middle now that they're dating, but his worst fear is that they'll reach around and kiss right in front of him while he is completely unable to escape. He likes his friends but there needs to be a line somewhere. Actually, maybe the line should be drawn somewhere  _ before _ being forced to watch his friends make out in a movie theatre, but Jeno thinks it's too much to think about right now. He'll figure it out later. 

 

They really do make him sit in the middle. Jaemin pays for all the snacks, which means he lets himself get robbed by the movie theatre prices. Renjun complains, saying they could have easily snuck all of this food in for much cheaper if Jaemin had just let him bring his Moomin backpack, but Jaemin says that they need to live luxuriously, and also mentions that if they don't eat the damn $10 bucket of popcorn until every kernel is gone then he will haunt them and his ghost will do aegyo in their homes and terrorize their families for eternity. They shudder. 

 

The movie is pretty good. Nobody kisses in front of Jeno where he is held hostage and unable to escape and the dialogue is funny. At one point his hand brushes against Jaemin's when they reach for the popcorn and it's so cliche Jeno wants to laugh, but the thriller is at its most serious point so Jeno just swallows down the laughter along with the popcorn and almost dies by choking on a kernel but very gracefully manages to avoid it, and Renjun only looks at him funny  _ once. _

Jaemin sinks down in his seat near the end and puts his head on Jeno's shoulder. He used to do this all the time B.R. (Before Renjun) but now it seems different somehow, like it's taboo or something. Jeno is hyperaware of the weight of his head, his warm breath, the smell of his shampoo. For some reason his response to this is to go completely rigid, like if he moves even a centimeter, Jaemin is going to kill him or something.

 

"You okay?" Renjun whispers, noticing Jeno is frozen in place like he's trying to avoid being noticed by a murdered, and Jeno just smiles at him, albeit tightly, and hopes that's a good enough reponse. It must be, because Renjun turns back to the movie. Renjun lifts up a drink (Jeno's fruit punch) and takes a sip (indirect kiss) and sets it back down like it's nothing. Jeno wants the movie to be over faster so he doesn't die. Jaemin takes mercy on him and lifts his head up, but not without turning so his mouth is very close to Jeno's ear, breath ghosting over it when he says "Thanks for coming with us," And Jeno responds with a shaky "Sure. Thanks for inviting me."

 

Jeno makes up some excuse for why he has to head straight home after the movie and runs the whole way there. Sitting in his bed, his head in his hands, he realizes there is a  _ slight  _ chance he has a crush on Renjun, and also on Jaemin. This would be enough of a problem if they were single, but they both happen to be in a relationship with each other. Oh, Jeno's really gone and done it now, and he can't even tell anyone about it. It's much too scandalous and inconvenient. He shudders at the way he imagines Mark's eyes would bulge right out of his head if he told him. Jisung and Donghyuk would both mock him forever, and Chenle, well. He's Chenle.

No, it's much too scandalous. Jeno gets overwhelmed and takes a life crisis nap.

He wakes up to 32 text notifications. 32. All from the groupchat that consists of him, Renjun, and Jaemin. They hang out so damn much they had to make a groupchat just for the three of them, separate from the one with Mark, Donghyuk, Jisung, and Chenle in it. Life comes at you fast. 

 

Jaemin and Renjun are already making plans to hang out tomorrow. They want to go to Jaemin's and make ice cream sundaes and watch some kind of reality tv show until their bodies fuse with the couch. The exact show they'll be watching is yet to be decided but according to Renjun, any show is fine as long as it makes his brain melt. That's the goal, apparently. Understandable, it's a Saturday.

 

They settle on Botched because for some reason Jaemin is obsessed with rhinoplasty. The show is stressing Renjun out.

 

"Why did she let someone who isn't a plastic surgeon do her  _ plastic surgery _ ? There is no sense of self preservation. I can't watch this anymore." he says, putting on the next episode.

 

However, Jeno is also stressed out. They didn't lay on the couch after all. They're all in Jaemin's bed, and once again, Jeno has been put in the middle, and given the nature of a bed, they're all laying down, and now Jeno is being cuddled from both sides. Having one crush is bad enough, but now Jeno is just suffering. Some cruel trickster god must be having a really good time with him. Maybe Donghyuk isn't human after all. He mentally shakes a fist at the sky.  _ Curse you, Donghyuk!  _ He can hear Donghyuk's cackle echo back at him.

 

While Jeno's mourning his own predicament, Renjun gently cups his jaw, turning Jeno to face him, and kisses him.

 

Jeno jerks back so fast his head almost smashes into Jaemin's face and gives him a bloody nose. Wouldn't that be romantic?

 

"Woah!" Jeno says, sitting up and panicking. "Woah, okay. Um, okay. I'll be right back." Renjun is cracking up next to him, clutching his stomach as Jaemin puts a hand on Jeno's shoulder to get him to sit back down.

 

"Aw, did Renjun kiss you?" he asks, fake sympathy in his voice. "He shouldn't have done that," he says, rubbing Jeno's shoulder with his thumb. "He should have let me do it first!" By the time Jeno processes that, it's too late, and Jaemin's mouth is on his. The shock of that makes him take a bit longer to pull away, but he jerks back from that, too.

 

"Guys!" he yells. "What the hell is going on?" He feels like he's losing his mind, utterly hysterical.

 

"We like you, dumbass! We know you like us, too!" Renjun says. "I saw you getting all flustered when Jaemin gave you his jacket. Let it happen, loverboy!" Jeno doesn't understand how he's getting confessed to and it _ still _ feels like he's getting bullied, but that's just Renjun for you. Renjun, who he has a crush on. _ Dammit.  _ Why couldn't he like  _ Mark _ or something instead?

 

"I am so confused right now."

 

"Oh, we couldn't tell." Renjun deadpans, but Jaemin laughs and shushes him, moving closer to Jeno, making him nervous.

 

"Let me explain. So Renjun and I started dating. Whatever, you've got that part. Then we started blowing you off. Why'd we do that? Okay, so Renjun and I were talking, and at some point you came up. That makes sense, you're our mutual friend who we hang out with a lot. But then we were like okay, this is weird, because we were having like, too much fun talking about you, if you know what I mean. Like we talked about you for an uncomfortably long time to be talking about a friend. So then we were like shit, do we both have crushes on you? Do we have to break up?"

 

"And then,  _ genius struc _ k," Renjun cuts in.

 

"And then we were like, no way! We can just  _ both _ date you. And we created a plan."

 

"We kept turning you down because we were formulating our plan and we couldn't be around you while it was happening. Much too risky," Renjun explains.

 

"Well, you didn't have to do it like this." Jeno protests. "You know how I am. Every time one of you did something I thought I was being creepy and reading too much into it and then I stayed up all night going bald from stress because I was like ‘Should I tell them that they are both flirting with me? What is going on here?’"

 

"Well we also got the added benefit of driving you fucking crazy," Jaemin laughs.

 

"That was my favorite part, personally." Renjun says.

 

"Really? My favorite part was this." Jaemin says, turning his head and kissing Jeno again. Jeno lets him stay there a bit longer this time, but still panics and pulls away. Jaemin groans.

 

"What now?"

 

"That was very smooth, but I didn't agree to this yet."

 

"What?" Jaemin says. "I bought $10 popcorn for our movie date!"  _ Our _ ? As in  _ all three of them _ ? Jeno wants to scream.

 

"You can't buy my love!"

 

"I'll get you a Gundam model."

 

"...Okay, I was wrong. Renjun, what do you have to offer?" Jeno asks, fingers steepled like a businessman at a meeting, trying to cut a deal.

 

"What the fuck?" Renjun says. He hits his chest. "Oh, this is frustrating! Why did I do this? Was dating Jaemin not frustrating enough?" Jeno's not sure who he's yelling at. Maybe God. Maybe Donghyuk. Maybe Renjun is mentally shaking a fist at the sky.

 

"Hey!" Jaemin laughs.

 

"No, but seriously." Jaemin says, turning to Jeno. "Are you not into this? I will feel really creepy if you say no after what we just did, but you know, that's fair. Consequences are consequences."

 

"Shit," Renjun says offhandedly. "It's a rhinoplasty. Jaemin, we missed the consultation." Jaemin holds eye contact with Jeno, trying to look unaffected, but Jeno can tell that gets his attention.

 

"We can rewind it," Jeno says.

 

"See?" Jaemin says. "You know me so well! That's why we want to date you." Jeno hides his face in Renjun's neck, oblivious to the smile on Renjun’s face as he does so.

  
  


"I am so overwhelmed right now. I'm saying yes, but I want you to both barely acknowledge that for a minute while I recover from the shock to my heart. A minute starts now. Absolute silence, please."

 

Jaemin, the bastard, sets an alarm on his phone for exactly one minute, and Jeno uses this time to do breathing exercises while Renjun rewinds the consultation for a woman with a stupendous beak of a nose's rhinoplasty. Jaemin sits, enraptured by the 3D rendering of how her nose is supposed to look after surgery, until the alarm goes off, very loudly Jeno might add, and startles him enough to need another minute. He doesn't get it.

 

"Yay!" Jaemin cheers, and him and Renjun are basically attacking him with kisses. Jeno can't tell whose mouth is whose, but he's on defense, arms around his head to block them. 

 

"Okay, okay. Calm down. Um, let's do this properly, without you guys  _ ambushing me _ !" Jeno tries to hide the accusatory tone in that, but it didn't really work out. He's shy now. Renjun and Jaemin have both pulled away and it's eerily quiet.

 

He just happens to make eye contact with Jaemin first, so that's who he kisses, a moment of mutual desire and eyelids falling shut and mouths finding each other. It's weird, kissing a friend. Well, not just a friend anymore. Jeno keeps getting worried that it's a joke, but it's certainly not one to Jaemin, who kisses Jeno sweetly and tenderly. 

 

They pull away, and Jaemin smiles at him, and it's intimidating to have all that loving attention focused on him, but not unwelcome, and Jeno is slightly dazed and Renjun turns Jeno's head to face him and kisses him. 

 

If Jaemin kissed sweetly, Renjun kisses kind of rough and demanding, but Jeno doesn't mind. He couldn't really, not with how much he likes them. As they kiss, Jaemin looks at them with fond and loving eyes, brushing Jeno's bangs out of his eyes with his fingers, smoothing down the back of Renjun's hair. They separate and there's a moment of hushed silence in the room, like they're all in awe that that just really happened. Jeno certainly is. 

 

"My nose goes so far to the right, it's wrong," says the lady on Botched, and Jeno wheezes. Very attractively. He cannot breathe, hand a vice grip on Renjun's arm as he laughs. They both want to be annoyed, because that's so  _ Jeno _ , but then again, Jeno being Jeno is what got them all into this situation in the first place, and they can't help but smile fondly.

 

"God, I love you," Jaemin says, dazed, and Renjun reaches across and smacks his arm. "Ow! What the fuck?"

 

"It's too early for that you lovesick idiot! It hasn't even been an  _ hour _ . Have some pride and decency." 

 

"I have known Jeno since I was, like, 10 years old! Let me have this you bitter little man."

 

"That's even more of a reason not to say it! It's not fair that you got to start loving him first!" Jeno comes out of his wheezing fit and realizes they're arguing about him. This is all so surreal. He gets an idea.

 

"Hey, guys." he says, interrupting this argument. "Wanna have some fun?" Renjun stares at him.

 

"Jeno, like I just told Jaemin. it hasn't even been an hour. I would like everyone in the room to develop some self control." Jeno smacks Renjun on the arm, embarrassed in a way that physically makes his body ache. 

 

"No, you  _ pervert. God. _ I was going to say, we should tell Mark hyung. But I have an idea." Jaemin leans in. 

 

"I'm listening,"

  
  
  


Jeno is sitting at their normal lunch table with Mark, little roll of kimbap his mom made for him in front of him with a few other things. 

 

"Hey," Renjun greets, exaggerating nonchalance in his tone as he pecks Jeno on the mouth and sits down next to him, putting his bag down. Mark pauses with his sandwich (so  _ Canadian _ of him, Donghyuk remarks) halfway to his mouth, eyes absolutely enormous. Jeno tries not to laugh and ruin the plan. 

 

"Hey, Renjun," he says, also incredibly nonchalant. "How was math?"

 

"It was fine. The test was easier than I thought it'd be. I panicked for nothing."

 

"Hey, babe." Jaemin says, kissing Renjun. Mark stares between them like they are aliens. Aliens that are on fire. His eyes are going between Jeno, Renjun, and Jaemin at speeds exceeding 300 MPH. He's going to give himself a migraine. For some reason, Donghyuk is oddly calm about the whole thing. Then, Jaemin gets to Jeno.

 

"Hey, babe number two." he says, and kisses Jeno. Instead of the peck Renjun gave him, Jaemin opts for something a bit more...PG-13. Jeno smacks his arm. They're in the  _ school cafeteria. _ If there's one thing Jeno fears more than getting in trouble for using his phone in class, it's getting in trouble for being inappropriate in front of the entire school. Mark drops his sandwich.

 

"Hey,  _ Jaemin _ ." he says, with a bit of resentment. 

 

"Tone it down, asshole." Renjun says, throwing a piece of radish at Jaemin's head. 

 

"I deserved that."

 

"You  _ so _ did," Donghyuk says. "I'm literally trying to eat."

 

"I'm sorry," Jeno says. "He lacks impulse control and critical thinking skills."

 

"Can you not quote my middle school behavior report?" Jeno shrugs.

 

"It was relevant."

 

"Can someone please tell me what in God's name is going on before I explode and die?" Mark begs. Jaemin grins with all of his perfect teeth. 

 

"You see, hyung. Renjun and I are dating Jeno now. I have two boyfriends and you have how many? 0." Donghyuk snorts, despite also not having a boyfriend. He appreciates a good insult.

 

"How do you- Is that like- How does that work?"

 

"We take turns," Jaemin says, and Jeno throws a carrot stick at him as Mark goes pale. Jeno is prepared to take him to the nurse's office any moment now. 

 

"You're not allowed to talk ever again. Hyung, don't listen to him. He makes everything sound so nasty.” 

 

"We do!" Jaemin says indignantly. "How the hell could three people kiss at the same time? What are we gonna do? Someone's gonna break their nose, and it's going to be Jeno because  _ look _ at that thing."

 

"Hey!" Jeno says. Renjun has his eyes shut and mouth covered, searching deep inside of himself for the self control it takes not to laugh at that. He looks like he's meditating.

 

"Okay, flat nose Jaemin." Jeno says. Renjun cannot take those two hits back to back, especially when it's Jeno saying it. Jeno, whose idea of an insult is more like a gentle compliment. 

 

"That's enough." he says, trying to mediate. "Someone's going to get offended. Probably me because I'm next. Nobody say anything. Anyways. Thoughts, Mark hyung?" Mark looks dizzy.

 

"Just...do what makes you happy. I don't want to hear any more details about this. I am happy for you guys, though." Jeno hugs Mark. He didn't  _ need _ his blessing, but he likes having it.

 

"Thanks, hyung." Mark smiles at that. If Jeno weren't around, Mark would die. It's too much chaos for him to handle alone. Renjun stares at Jeno's head on Mark's shoulder and Jeno takes it away, fast.

 

"Jesus," Donghyuk laughs. "Renjun, he hugged him. He didn't make out with him." Renjun acts like he doesn't know what Donghyuk is referring to. Oh, classic Renjun. 

 

Jeno laughs. Later they're going out to eat for their first  _ official _ date as boyfriends. Jaemin is paying because, according to Renjun, buying things is his love language. They took a quiz, apparently. The second highest one, almost a tie, was physical affection. Renjun claims Jeno has to take the quiz later and send the results to the groupchat. 

 

And Jeno is looking forward to it. 

 

"Have you told your parents yet?" Donghyuk asks, and Jeno freezes.

 

"They aren't ever going to know ever and none of you are going to tell them and it is going to be a secret until I  _ die _ ." Jeno says, taking a sip of water. Everyone blinks at him.

 

Jeno is  _ not _ looking forward to that part.

 

"Why?" Mark asks, looking worried. "Are they like...?"  _ Homophobic?  _

 

"Oh, no." Jeno asks. "It's just humiliating for them to know I have feelings and am dating people. I intend on having my mom think I am still 12 and all of this is disgusting to me for as long as I can." Mark nods.

 

"Understandable."

 

When Jeno goes home with a poorly concealed hickey on his neck two weeks later because  _ someone _ (Renjun) used too much teeth, Jeno's plan goes to hell.

 

"Hope you're happy," Jeno says, miserable. Renjun pokes the bruise with his finger and Jeno goes all red.

 

"Honestly? I am." Renjun says. Jaemin laughs, holding Jeno's hand.

 

And yeah, Jeno thinks. He is, too.

  
  



End file.
